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Because of Your Love

Sounds like … Paul Baloche, Matt Redman, Brian Doerksen, Tim Hughes, Jared Anderson, and other mainstays of the modern worship circuitAt a glance … this veteran of praise music scales things back as he continues to write serviceable anthems for the church, while looking back at some of his earlier repertoireTrack Listing Because of Your Love Wonderful Adoration Come Let Us Return (Gloria) Holy All Who Are Thirsty Lead Me Stars Amazing God Rock of Ages (You Will Stand) Send Your Rain Our God Saves Humble King

He may not be a household name, but worship heads need no introduction to Brenton Brown, one of the forerunners in modern worship music. Once a reluctant worship leader, Brown is best known for praise standards like "Lord Reign in Me" and "Hallelujah (Your Love Is Amazing)" and for his contributions to Vineyard's legendary Hungry compilation. His long-in-the-making debut as a solo worshipper was 2006's Everlasting God, which Christian Music Today named a favorite worship album that year.

If the title of his second effort, Because of Your Love, sounds familiar, it's because it refers to the same song Brown co-wrote with fellow veteran Paul Baloche on the latter's acclaimed A Greater Song (also a favorite worship album from 2006). Brown's take is a fine, more stripped-down arrangement, not to mention an interesting launching point for the album, nearly half of which is composed of new renditions of time-tested staples and recent collaborations. And there are plenty of guest appearances too, from Baloche and Kathryn Scott to Matt Maher and Leeland Mooring (Leeland).

None of these are lazy covers. The instrumentation may be simple, a four-piece praise band setup consisting of guitar, bass, keys, and drums. This isn't a problem when the songs are still relatively unexploited, like "All Who Are Thirsty" or "Holy," two older tracks from Brown's Vineyard UK days. Their straightforward presentation could only facilitate their introduction to congregations who are yet to catch on with the worshipper's catalog&mdash;the songs have a lot of room to breathe, and that's a good thing.

In terms of original material, Because of Your Love is resourceful, but it's by no means genre-defining, like Brown's earlier work. The worship leader knows the modern worship rulebook well, so naturally a couple of the tunes have tremendous corporate potential, like the contagious "Wonderful" and the anthemic "Adoration." Stack the songs next to Brown's other classics, though, and it's easy to see why the caliber isn't quite up to par: the songs are catchy, but not as thoughtful.

That's not to say Because of Your Love is not a worthy contribution to the modern worship songbook. It's a very good chapter, actually, but one that's evocative and derivative of earlier, more significant albums, not on par with them.